Was Sir George West really the son of the 3rd wife Eleanor Copley?

Question

Sir George West is presently listed as being born about 1495, which seems to accord well with his appointment as Master and Warden of the Collegiate Church of Manchester in 1516.

However, he is also listed as son of his father's 3rd wife Eleanor Copley, as shown in the Visitation of Hampshire (1678).  However, his father supposedly didn't marry Eleanor Copley until 1502, after the death of the 2nd wife (supposedly in June 1502).  

So does the Visitation of Hampshire give the wrong mother for George West, or is the 1525 will of his father wrong in dating the death of the 2nd wife as June 1502?  

Comments

Could it be a case like John of Gaunt? The child of the mistress who became a third wife and the child was legitimated ?

Answer 1

His father Thomas West was lord of Manchester and owned the advowson.  He was the patron and the one who appointed his own son.  as A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4. Victoria County History, London, 1911 says, 

• "George West was probably a child at his appointment, and is not even described as 'clerk.' After his father's death (1525) he appears to have refused to proceed to holy orders, gave up the wardenship in 1528, married and became the ancestor of the Earls De La Warr, and was made a knight in 1533. He had also the church of Shepton Mallet, which he resigned at the same time as Manchester."  

I think you can think of this as a Lord giving a younger son over to the church and then finding a way for the church to pay for his maintenance.  Such was his prerogative as the patron of Manchester.

His birth date should be changed to about 1504.

Comments

Thank you Joe.  I have changed it to about 1504.  The Visitation of Hampshire seems to indicate that his brothers Leonard and Owen are younger than him, and their estimated years of birth will also need to be changed.